A leprechaun in the hand is worth a pot of gold in the kitchen
by Art3misiA
Summary: An uninvited visitor arrives while Draco and Hermione are doing a spot of de-gnoming. *ONE-SHOT*


**Thanks to CourtingInsanity for her beta skills ox**

**This one-shot is dedicated to PartyLines X**

* * *

"Aghhhh! It bit me! Bastard!"

Hermione looked up from the long grass behind her house in Hampstead, where a thorough de-gnoming was in process. Draco was jumping around, holding his wounded hand and swearing loudly. She couldn't help but laugh at his messy, sweaty hair and red face. "Draco, don't tell me you've never de-gnomed a garden before?" she called.

He looked up at her, and she laughed even harder at his cross expression. "Of course I have...! I helped the house-elves at the manor once!" he replied, affronted.

"And how did you help, exactly?" she asked, walking toward him.

"I watched for any trying to escape, and yelled at the elves to hurry up and catch them."

"I see." she took his hand in hers to examine the injury. The skin was broken and it had bled slightly, but the bite was not deep. "And where exactly were you positioned while you were watching and yelling?"

"I was…" Draco's hesitancy made her look up at him, amused but expectant. Strangely enough, the pomp had gone out of his voice and he didn't want to meet her eyes.

"You were…?" she prompted, gently.

"I was in my tree fort, which was about six feet off the ground." came the quiet reply.

Hermione snorted in amusement. "I'm sure you were a valuable source of aid to the elves."

"Actually, I think I rather annoyed them."

"Draco Malfoy? An annoyance? Never!" she sniped, smirking. Taking out her wand, she waved it over his injured digits. "_Episkey." _

Draco jumped slightly at the strange sensation that always followed a healing spell. He examined his hand and flexed his fingers. "Thanks."

"You're quite welcome." smiling, she reached up to brush his hair out of his eyes. "Now, are you feeling brave enough to carry on, or shall we take a break for tea?"

"I think tea would be good." he answered gratefully.

Nodding, Hermione led them back toward the house. Gesturing to the table and two chairs positioned on the rear verandah, she said, "Take a seat. I'll get the tea things and bring them out."

Draco sat, but no sooner had he gotten comfortable then he heard an outraged "Oi! Get out of there!" from inside, followed by a crash.

Leaping up and racing inside, he entered the kitchen to find a furious Hermione with her wand extended and aimed at the far corner. Following the direction of her arm, he was surprised to see a small creature covered in what looked like greenery cowering behind an overturned chair.

Stepping closer for a better look, he said hesitantly "Is that- is that a _leprechaun_?"

"It would appear so." Hermione responded, her wand still trained on the trembling figure.

"But they're native to-"

"-Ireland." she finished for him.

"So what is one doing _here_?"

Loudly, she stated "That's what I'd like to know. He was raiding my biscuit tin and making a mess." Clearly, her statement was aimed at the leprechaun as much as it was intended to be an answer to his question.

"Lower your wand, Hermione. He won't hurt you."

"I _know_ that!" She answered crossly. "But it is very rude to break into someone's home and help yourself to their food without so much as a by-your-leave!" Despite her ire, however, she complied, lowering her wand slightly.

The leprechaun looked up at Draco gratefully. "Thank yeh, kind sair. I'm most grateful to yeh for calming the banshee."

"Banshee?" Hermione exclaimed. "The nerve! I've half a mind to hand you over to the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures for quarantine!"

The leprechaun cowered again at her threat. "I be truly sorry, miss! Please! If yeh let me go I'll give yeh a pot of gold!"

"Oho! I'm not falling for that!" Hermione exclaimed triumphantly. "Leprechaun gold disappears after several hours. You might as well give me a pot of air."

"A wish, then?" the creature offered hopefully.

"What, you're a genie now?" She snorted. Dropping her wand completely, she sighed. No matter what threats she made, she couldn't bring herself to act on them. A magical creature was just as entitled to dignity as any human or animal, after all. "I'm not going to hand you over to the Department." Bringing her hands to her hips, she added sternly, "But I sincerely hope you won't go breaking into any more houses and raiding peoples' biscuit tins!" She stepped aside to let him pass.

"To be sure, miss, to be sure!" The leprechaun tipped his hat at her and scuttled quickly toward the door.

"Wait!" Draco called. The leprechaun turned back nervously and looked at him. "What are you doing in England?"

"Ahh, that. Well, funny story, me boyo. I'm here with the Irish National Quidditch team, and I fancied a bit o' sightseein'. So I snuck off. I got meself a bit turned around and came across this fine wee cottage. I was hungry, so I had a rummage and found the tin. No one was about, so I tucked in." He had the decency to look slightly ashamed.

Draco looked at Hermione. "The Irish team is staying in a Wizarding hotel in Magical London. He's a long way from their base. We should take him back."

"I suppose we should." She sighed.

* * *

They arrived at the hotel with the leprechaun in tow, and after a word with the wizard at the front desk the team captain was summoned.

"There you are, Benny! Have you been off causing trouble again?!" the Irishman exclaimed as he approached, frowning at the creature. He then turned to Hermione and Draco. "I'm terribly sorry. I hope he hasn't been into too much mischief," he apologised.

"The only casualty was a packet of biscuits." Draco smiled.

"He offered me gold by way of reparation," Hermione added. "Suffice to say, I declined."

The captain laughed. "Can I offer you both VIP tickets to tonight's match, instead? I promise you they won't disappear after a few hours." He winked flirtatiously at Hermione, who blushed.

"What do you say, Hermione?" Draco asked, looking at her hopefully.

Hermione sighed. She still wasn't a fan of Quidditch. However, who was she to say no and dash the adorable, excited-little-boy expression from Draco's face? Smiling, she nodded. "That would be lovely. Thank you very much!"

"Excellent! Wait here, and I'll be right back with your tickets." The captain turned back the way he had come, calling on Benny to follow, and returned alone several minutes later. Presenting the tickets with a flourish, he thanked them again for seeing the wayward leprechaun safely home before returning to his team.

* * *

Draco and Hermione made their way through the stadium to the VIP area, where they found their seats. Draco was covered head to toe in green, and his eyes shone with excitement. Hermione couldn't help but be caught up in the atmosphere around them. Ireland was the favourite to win against Germany.

As they waited for the game to commence, they chatted about the afternoon that had led them to their present situation.

"What would you do with a pot of gold, if you really had one?" Draco asked Hermione curiously.

She frowned, thinking. "I don't know. I've never really wanted or needed a lot of money. I suppose I would try and help others with it, maybe fund research or offer scholarships to magical children whose families struggled to afford tuition." turning to Draco, she asked, "What would you do with it?"

"I think I would choose a similar option to you," he replied seriously. "It's not like I need _more _gold, after all." Hermione rolled her eyes at his quip and smiled. "My mother has her own charities and scholarships which she contributes to, but I would prefer to establish my own."

The crowd began to chant, and everyone leaned forward to watch the players enter the pitch. The Irish team came on first, shooting off fireworks. The pyrotechnic display formed four leaf clovers that spread out over the pitch, floating over the heads of the spectators. One such clover floated over to where Hermione and Draco were sitting. It burst apart in a shower of sparks, before reforming into words that said, "_A kiss for good luck!_"

Hermione and Draco looked at each other, and Hermione blushed. Draco, however, took her face gently in his hands and placed his lips softly against hers. Sighing happily, she returned the kiss. She felt lucky to be up here in this box, kissing Draco Malfoy, who used to be a ferrety prat but was now her boyfriend.

_The luck of the Irish_, she thought. 

* * *

_**a/n: When we were talking about putting together drabbles for a writer/reader of the fandom, we were given the deadline of St Paddy's day. Although there was no set prompt and we didn't have to make it about St Paddy's I had an Irish theme in my head! So I searched up St Paddy's prompts and found a list of 20.  
Number five spoke to me: "You have caught a leprechaun, and he has given you a pot of gold in exchange for his freedom. What do you do with it?"  
My plunny was off, and here is the result.  
Enjoy! **_

/20-fun-st-patricks-day-writing-prompts/


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